Merchant & Gould is pleased to announce that Heather Kliebenstein, a Minneapolis partner who joined in 2004, has been named Managing Director of Merchant & Gould’s seven offices, effective Jan. 30, 2023. She joins Tracey Skjeveland, the firm’s COO and CFO, and leads a three-person Executive Committee, including Andrew Lagatta and William Schultz. Tracey will manage day to day business operations of the firm while Heather and the Executive Committee will lead the law firm and provide direction for long-range planning and growth. 

As an IP litigator with a technical background, Heather represents her clients in court and counsels those clients regarding other intellectual property portfolio strategy. She specializes in trademark, trade dress, copyright, advertising, unfair competition, breach of contract, patent, design patent and trade secret litigation, particularly with cases that intertwine multiple intellectual properties, contracts and other federal or state claims. Heather is the former chair of Merchant & Gould’s Litigation Practice.

Tracey joined Merchant & Gould in 1999 as a financial analyst. In 2006, she was named CFO. In 2014, Tracey was named the firm’s COO. Throughout her career at Merchant & Gould, Tracey has demonstrated effective, sound leadership and has been a mentor to many.